The Simplest Things
by Spoons
Summary: AriEpros? Ari and company are still searching for the rest of the Evil Kings, but when you feel ignored and unimportant, it's hard to feel much at all. To make matters worse, a group of vicious ghosts seems to be stalking them. R
1. By the Lake

Spoons: Okay, this is just an experimental ficcie of mine (I couldn't find any Epros/Ari pairings so I got frustrated ;) and I wanted to see how this pairing would work. I'll try my best to be accurate.  
  
Zebra: Don't bother. No one will care if you aren't.  
  
Bird: That's no reason not to try.   
  
Zebra: grumbles yes it is... --  
  
Spoons: Aaanyway consider this to take place...oh...somewhere in the middle of the game. After Linda joins your party and before they visit the sewer and Triste. for those of you who haven't the faintest idea of what I'm talking about, Linda is the former Teen Idol Evil King, and Big Bull, who is also in your party at that point, is also a former Evil King. And the princess has gone off somewhere- back to her castle for the time being (I hate her. ). Evil Kings are really powerful ghosts that try to take over the world or something.  
  
Zebra: Why write a fic about a sucky video game!? People don't read fics on sucky games!  
  
Spoons: Grr...shut up! Please enjoy the fic, folks. And tell me what you think!  
  
Bird: The main character's name in this fic will be Ari, which it is by default in the actual game. Please enjoy the fic.   
  
Zebra: Hmf. -- Spoons does not own Okage or its characters. This ficcie will contain some yaoi or whatever. Rating is PG-13 or R, if Spoons decides to go perverse on us. shakes head sadly  
  
Spoons: ignores Zebra And as for Epros's odd...erm...tendency to rhyme when he talks...I'll do my best on that ;;; but don't expect any masterpieces. Okage: Shadow King is a world where "ghosts" are various kinds of monsters that attack travelers and such. nods just so you know. Please review when you're done!!  
  
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= scene/time change  
  
blah = word emphasis/italics  
  
'blah' = thoughts  
  
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I Am of the Desert, You of Cultivation  
  
-------  
  
I am of the desert, you of cultivation:  
  
Simplicity to me, to you is desolation;  
  
Heat, thirst, and agony I seek out on vacation,  
  
While you look for elegance and quiet restoration.  
  
I am of the ocean, you are of the shore:  
  
You want fewer waves, I manufacture more;  
  
You like tranquil bays, I love the rollers' roar;  
  
In me, a wild emptiness; in you, a quiet core.  
  
While I am like a stream, you are like a lake:  
  
I babble over boulders, you reflections make;  
  
I rush forward heedlessly, as bones and branches break;  
  
You part before the piercing bow and then absorb the wake.  
  
That such extremes should not be mingled might seem elementary;  
  
But love can make the wildest contradictions complementary.  
  
-----  
  
Poem by Nicholas Gordon  
  
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"Slave! Wake up, slave!"  
  
Ari opened his eyes a crack and grumbled, rolling over to grasp his thin, yet pleasantly warm blanket. 'For the last time, my name's not slave. It's Ari.' He thought grumpily. That ghost had never gotten his name right. It was always "slave!" or "servant!" or "boy!". Not once had Stan called him by his name.  
  
"I said wake up! There is much to be done! You cannot sleep any longer!" A black claw whacked Ari on the head. He frowned and sat up, turning to face the annoying Evil King. A pair of round, yellow eyes stared back at him. Stan's ghastly grin widened as he watched Ari stand up and stiffly stretch his arms. The sun had just risen above the leafy trees, dousing the wet grass and flowers with bright light. A faint mist drifted above the large lake not a few yards away. Today the sky was clear and cool, with many birds chirping and chattering in the trees. Stan folded his stick-like arms and nodded. "It's about time, slave!"  
  
"Oh leave him alone. We all had a rough night." Rosalyn crashed through the nearby bushes, her arms full of sticks and twigs. She was a Hero by classification, in her early twenties, and had large, dusty yellow eyes and blonde hair that hung at shoulder length. A small, pink parasol was slung over her shoulder, badly clashing with her warrior's clothes. She walked into the clearing and dumped the wood on the ground. "I'll start breakfast. Why don't you go and wake the others, Ari."  
  
"Alright." He said, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Stan grumbled something about useless slaves and disappeared in a poof of inky black, back into Ari's shadow. A loud snore broke the tranquility in the woods, coming from somewhere near the edge of the clearing. A ratty old sleeping bag with a large lump, indicating that there was someone inside, rested next to a young, sleeping girl with dark blonde hair and a pair of gray, striped horns on her head, dressed in a simple pink dress and clutching a microphone in her hands. Further back into the forest, a large bull-like creature with yellowish skin and large horns, dressed in a tacky green and white striped shirt, slept sprawled out on a wide tree stump, his thin tail whipping back and forth occasionally as he muttered something in his sleep. Ari approached the snoring sleeping bag and tapped it with his foot. "Professor Kisling? Breakfast is soon. You should get up."  
  
"Mhmm....nggm...ghosts...ghosts everywhere......I wonder if they...nhmm...would like some tea........."  
  
"Kisling?" Ari sighed and knelt down next to the girl, shaking her gently. "Linda?"  
The girl stirred and smiled, her fingers intertwining around the odd microphone tighter. She opened her eyes and looked around.  
  
"Oh my. Is it morning already? I'm still so sleepy. Ah, good morning, coach!" She grinned and sat up, her face lighting up like a candle. "Are we ready to go?"  
  
"Not yet. Rosalyn is making breakfast still."  
  
"Alright! I'll go help her." Linda frolicked off towards Rosalyn, who was kneeling down by the woodpile trying to get a fire started.  
  
"Big Bull! Wake up!" Ari yelled, startling the former Evil King from his sleep. He flailed and fell over, landing face-first in the dirt. Grinning cockily, he jumped up and laughed.  
  
"I meant to do that! What time is it? Breakfast? Great! Lots of food is important for building strong muscles!" With that said, he ran off to the recently-started fire, tripping and falling over a few feet from it. Rosalyn shook her head at him and resumed poking the fire with her rapier, trying to make it bigger, while Linda pranced back and forth, singing one of her famous, brainwashing songs.  
  
"I say, what a beautiful day! It reminds me of how the mornings tend to look in the northern snowfields. Very clear indeed." Kisling, an old, frizzy haired researcher by classification, stiffly pulled himself out of the sleeping bag and bent over, touching his toes. "Another beautiful day! I can't wait for breakfast!" With that, he too went to join Rosalyn and the others. Ari sighed and looked out over the lake, scuffing at the ground with his worn shoes. It had been weeks since he'd started this journey, and he found that as time went on, he longed more and more to be back at home with people who knew him. The others were still fretting over the fire, trying in vain to get a good flame started. Lowering his eyes to the ground, Ari made his way slowly over to the lakeshore and sat down on the bank, watching the water lap against his shoes.  
  
No one ever seemed to care about him. They all acted like he wasn't there most of the time. Even Stan, who was forced to reside in his own shadow, remained distant. Rosalyn was the only one who paid him much attention from time to time, but even then it was only because he was the servant of the Evil King she was trying to defeat. Not because he felt lonely or miserable. At least back at home there weren't many people to ignore him. If only he'd never left there. If only Stan had never showed up, none of this would have ever happened to him. He leaned over and stared into the shimmering water. A young boy stared back at him with dull, green eyes and messy, brown hair. His clothes were simple, not made for fighting or traveling, and a wide sword hung from his belt. 'Why am I on this stupid adventure, anyway? It's not like I asked for it.'  
  
"Servant!" Stan appeared behind him in a cloud of black smoke. "We must get moving! We'll never find the rest of the fake Evil Kings if we sit here all day!"  
  
Ari sighed and stood, walking over to where a nice, roaring fire was cooking a large rabbit on a stick. Stan hovered along behind him, unable to move around without Ari doing it for him. Kisling looked up and smiled.  
  
"Ahh Ari. You're just in time for a nice rabbit breakfast! Rosalyn here caught the little fellow trying to crawl into her sleeping bag."  
  
"I stabbed it before I knew what it was." She admitted rather sheepishly. "I figured we might as well eat the poor thing."  
  
Ari raised his brow and sat down in front of the fire. 'I'll make sure never to crawl into her sleeping bag, then. Er...' He shook his head and accepted a rabbit leg from Big Bull, munching down on it absentmindedly. The others were busy talking. Rosalyn was getting into another heated argument with Stan, which usually resulted in Ari hAring a rapier pointed at his neck, Linda was squeamishly picking the hairs off of her meat, while Kisling tried to persuade her to just bite down on it and ignore the little "rabbity hairs", and Big Bull was examining the rabbit carcass for the toughest bits of meat while muttering something about building up tough muscles. As usual, no one was paying him any attention at all. He sighed and bit into the meat, glad to have something to distract himself with. 'Poor little rabbit...' He thought, turning the leg over in his hands. 'I'll bet no one cared about you either. We're pretty similar, you and I. Hmm...I hope I don't end up like you, though. Run through by Rosalyn's-'  
  
"You take that back, you pseudo Evil King!" Rosalyn yelled. Ari gulped as he felt the cold edge of her blade press against his neck.  
  
"Ha! You don't have the skills to take me on, weakling Hero!" Stan laughed and grinned at her mockingly. "I shall strike you down if you try to harm my slave! You will never defeat the Great Evil King Stan!"  
  
"I highly doubt that." Rosalyn clenched her teeth, the blade pressing harder into Ari's neck. Linda and Kisling were watching now, while Big Bull still searched the rabbit over for more meat.  
  
"Now calm down, Rosalyn. You should think things through before you stab people with your sword! For instance, if you had thought things through before stabbing that little rabbit, I'm sure things would have turned out better. You can't just go around running people through." Kisling nodded, congratulating himself for saying something on such a seemingly profound level. Rosalyn's eyes grew sad and she lowered the blade. Ari breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"I didn't mean to kill the rabbit...it was an accident." She murmured, sitting down on the grass. Linda looked at her sympathetically and resumed fretting over her meat.  
  
"Ha! See? No skills at all. I was right all along, as usual." Stan grinned cockily and laughed, Kisling made no comment, returning to his spot by Linda, and Big Bull looked up suddenly, confused as to what he'd just missed. Shrugging, he eyed Ari and whipped his tail against the grass.  
  
"You don't look too good, brother! Are you working out enough?" He smiled and flexed his arms. "You need muscles like these! They're a sure sign of health!"  
  
"He's right, you know. You have been looking a little pale lately." Rosalyn said, taking on a concerned look. "You don't suppose Ari is sick, do you Kisling?"  
  
"Sick?" Stan echoed, staring down at Ari's head. "Why would my slave be sick?"  
  
"People get sick. It's very normal, Stan." Kisling came over and sat down next to Ari, carefully observing his ear. "An ear infection, perhaps? Or maybe he's got a ghost in him causing the sickness." The scientist nodded to himself again. "Yep. I think it's a ghost."  
  
"Maybe he didn't get enough sleep. A lack of sleep will ruin your outer appearance." Linda said, finally taking a tiny nibble out of the meat.  
  
"Oh for crying out loud, it's probably just a cold or something." Rosalyn said, shaking her head at the others. "Go wash in the lake, Ari. You might feel a bit better."  
  
"Alright." Ari stood and began to walk towards the water as Stan vanished into his shadow. Ari stopped after he was a ways away from the campfire. He could hear the others talking amongst each other again, their voices too far away to make out what they were saying. He walked into the thick reeds and sat down on a rock, sighing contentedly. It felt very good to be away from them. All he could hear now were the birds, an occasional frog, and the lapping of the water against the shore. The lake was beautiful from this angle, the sun reflecting off of the shimmering surface. 'What's to be gained by this stupid hunt for Evil Kings, anyway?' He asked himself, dipping his fingers in the frigid water. 'After we find all of them and Stan regains his full power, he'll just start all kinds of trouble. And Rosalyn will go after him, and probably end up killing him, too. Not that I really care. He probably deserves it, knowing him. ' Ari picked up a small, flat rock, running his fingers along its smooth surface before skillfully chucking it across the water, watching it skip along the surface three times before submerging with a plunk. He got up from his rock and knelt by the water, scooping it up in his hands and splashing it on his face. Shaking his head to dry his hair somewhat, he stood and walked back towards the campfire. Big Bull was stomping on the remains, trying to get the coals to go out. Rosalyn shook his head at him.  
  
"Doesn't that burn your feet, Big Bull??"  
  
"Nonsense! I'm to tough for some puny coals to harm me!" He laughed, his feet turning red and black from stomping on the hot wood. He gave a forced smile and resumed stomping, a little less vigorously than before.  
  
"Let me help." Rosalyn pointed her parasol at the smoldering woodpile and mumbled something, a stream of supercooled air shooting out of the tip. Big Bull yelped and jumped out of the way, his toes covered in frost. The fire was now a large chunk of ice.  
  
"Watch where you're aiming next time!" He whimpered and sat down, rubbing his feet with his hands. Rosalyn murmured an apology and rested the pink parasol against her shoulder, twirling it absentmindedly.  
  
"Shall we break camp?" Kisling was in the process of rolling up with moth-eaten sleeping bag. Ari sighed and went over to the woods to retrieve his thin blanket from its spot on the flattened grass. The threads were rapidly coming apart. It looked as if his blanket only had a few more days left of usefulness before he would be forced to find a new one.  
  
Around an hour later the five of them (not including Stan who was still in Ari's shadow) were walking down the desolate, dirt road on their way to the next town. Linda was prancing along as usual, humming another of her songs, Rosalyn was glaring at their map, turning it upside down and sideways, which Ari decided was not a good sign, Big Bull was spacing out, mumbling something under his breath about spas and gyms, and Kisling was reaching over to assist Rosalyn with the map, who whacked his hand with her parasol and continued grumbling and turning the map around. Kisling shook his head and reached into his pocket to pull out one of his many guidebooks on ghostology. He flipped it open and began to read. Ari rolled his eyes and watched his feet, deciding that as bad of an idea as it was, he would leave the nArigating to Rosalyn. The birds were chattering more loudly now. It was almost deafening, making it extremely difficult to hear other noises.  
  
A faint clank resounded behind him, making him whip his head around and pause briefly before running to catch up with the others. None of them had noticed his odd behavior, all of them busy with one thing or another. He blinked and shook his head, deciding that he'd been hearing things. Another noise that sounded like a two swords clashing together issued from the trees behind him. The others didn't seem to notice it. He frowned and looked over his shoulder, seeing nothing but the trail and the dense forest on either side of it.  
  
Another hour passed and they were in a thicker part of the forest, the sky hidden by branches and leaves. Rosalyn had given up on the map and was attentively practicing the incantation for her ice spell, little wisps of frost shooting out of her parasol every now and then, which she had pointed to the ground. Kisling was halfway through the book, and Linda and Big Bull's activities hadn't changed in the last hour. Ari was about to take a little mental vacation when he thought he heard that metallic clinking noise again. It was very faint, coming from somewhere far to the rear left. It was then that he noticed the forest was utterly silent.  
  
"Hey...Rosalyn?"  
  
"What?" She replied inattentively, still trying to get the spell just right.  
  
"Listen. The forest. It's completely silent." He looked around, unable to see past the first few yards of trees and bushes. Rosalyn put her parasol back over her shoulder and listened.  
  
"...You're right. That's odd. Something must have scared the animals. Even the insects are quiet."  
  
"Maybe we did." Kisling offered, looking up from his book momentarily. Rosalyn shook her head.  
  
"No...the birds were singing just a few minutes ago..."  
  
"I keep hearing this-"  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Kisling interrupted Ari, walking ahead a few feet to where a large sword lay on the ground. It had a very wide, blue-ish blade and was long, about four feet, with a yellow hilt and sharpened edges.  
  
"Someone must have dropped it." Rosalyn said. Kisling walked back over to them with the sword in his arms and they continued walking down the path. Linda glanced at the oddly colored weapon and went back to her humming, while Big Bull didn't seem to notice whatsoever. "What are we going to do with it?"  
  
"Why, keep it, I suppose! Unless someone claims it. I say, it certainly is a very sharp sword. Someone must take very good care of it." He said, cutting his finger on the edge by accident. Ari thought he saw something glitter on the hilt. He leaned over and observed it closely, but there didn't seem to be anything there.  
  
'I must be seeing things.' He decided, walking behind Kisling. He heard a few more of the clinking noises, but they seemed to be becoming less and less frequent and further away. Kisling mumbled something and tightened his grip on the weapon.  
  
"I think I may be going a little batty but..." He began, frowning at the sword. Ari rolled his eyes at him and thought to himself, 'Well duh. You're just figuring that out?'.  
  
"But what?" Rosalyn asked, glancing over at him.  
  
"I could've sworn I just felt this thing shudder a little. But swords don't shudder. They don't move at all, for that matter. Unless someone is moving it themselves, of course, but I wasn't moving it. I was just holding it." He held the sword by its hilt, dangling it so the tip was pointing towards the ground. Rosalyn blinked at him.  
  
"Maybe it's an enchanted sword. They're not all that uncommon." She said, resuming her spell practice. Kisling shrugged, reading his book with his free hand. Ari saw the sword hilt glitter in the corner of his eye again and he quickly glanced down at it, noticing a large, shiny black dot in the middle of it. Then it was suddenly gone. The blade rippled faintly. Kisling didn't seem to notice, utilizing his nose to flip the next page of his book. The sword then jerked out of his hand and thumped onto the ground. Kisling blinked and bent over to pick it up. The weapon hopped and jumped around on the ground like it was alive. Kisling chased it down the road and back, trying to coax it into his hand. Rosalyn was watching him run after it. She rolled her eyes and aimed her parasol at it, firing bolts of ice at it in an effort to freeze it in place. Linda was laughing as she watched Kisling run after the sword and try to dodge Rosalyn's ice attack at the same time, and Big Bull was standing with his arms folded, also rather amused by the spectacle. The sword stopped its hopping and floated into the air, hovering off of the ground at eyelevel. Kisling stopped chasing it and tried creeping up behind it slowly, ready to grab the hilt. With an ear-splitting grating noise, the blade split down the middle, forming what almost looked like a mouth with jagged metal teeth. The shiny black dot appeared on the hilt again, blinking a few times. Ari gasped, shouting for Kisling to get away from it. 'It's an eye!'  
  
The sword made a horrible shrieking noise and whipped around, biting at Kisling with its razor sharp teeth. Kisling yelled and fell over backwards, using his book as a shield. The sword snatched the book and growled, ripping it up. Firing bolt after bolt of ice, Rosalyn tried to drive the sword away from Kisling. Linda was hiding behind Big Bull, who was arguing with himself what kind of wrestling move he should use on a sharp sword.  
  
Ari backed away towards the edge of the forest, his back bumping against a tree. A low, grating sound issued from behind him, a floating sword, identical to the one that was attacking Kisling, swooping out from around the tree trunk to hover an inch from his face, staring him in the eye. Ari screamed and ducked down as the sword thrusted towards him, jamming its blade into the tree's bark where his face had been. He retreated back into the middle of the path where the others were gathered. Dozens of floating, shrieking swords were surrounding them, more and more of them appearing out of the forest by the second. Stan appeared in a cloud of black and looked around bewilderedly.  
  
"What're all these Masterless Swords doing here!? I thought these ghosts only resided in the desert far to the east!" He yelled, ducking down as one of the swords zipped past his head, chattering and shrieking when it realized that it had missed its target. Ari unsheathed his sword and held it at the ready, backing up to stand with his back against Big Bull and Kisling. Linda was trying her best to sing a song that would hypnotize and calm the swords, but the deafening noise was too much for it to be heard.  
  
"I don't know how these things got here, but let's make sure they don't harm anyone else!" Rosalyn said, wAring her rapier around menacingly. Several of the nearby swords shrieked at her and circled above their heads, occasionally diving down to swipe at them. Ari slashed at one. It tumbled back a few feet and shook its blade, snarling at him angrily. It flew at him, swerving side to side and finally rearing up to crack him over the head with the flat of its blade. Stan yelled and vanished as Ari fell over onto the dusty ground, blacking out.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------END-------------------- -------------------------------------------  
  
Spoons: Ahh that felt good to write. pats self on back  
  
Zebra: You are such a freak, you know that? A freak.  
  
Spoons: Well I think I kept the style of the video game pretty good all through the fanfic! Except for the end, of course. But if this were exactly like the game, it wouldn't be a fanfiction, now would it? It would be the game. Which it's not. Erm...  
  
Zebra: Just do us all a favor and stop talking. --  
  
Bird: I thought it was very good.   
  
Spoons: See!? Bird thinks it's good!  
  
Zebra: Get a life, you hack author.  
  
Spoons: TT that was cold, Zebra. You're my muse. Why can't you act like one? sobs  
  
Zebra: sighs Alright, alright. It was good, I guess.  
  
Spoons: Yay!! huggles Zebra  
  
Zebra: --  
  
Bird: Please review and tell us what you think! Reviews will be responded to in the next chapter by Spoons. nods happily  
  
Spoons: Reviews are good, so leave some!! 


	2. In the Town

Spoons: Wow. O.o someone actually requested another chapter. Welcome back!  
  
Zebra: Stay away if you know what's good for you. --  
  
Bird: Nonsense. This fic is good.  
  
Spoons: Thank you, Bird. nods  
  
Bird:   
  
Zebra: grumbles suck-up.  
  
Spoons: Sadly, I do not own Okage. If I did, Marlene would die a horrible death and Linda would get lost somewhere in the snowfields, never to return. And Stan's human form wouldn't be...not quite so ugly. He'd be very delicious with long, black hair. And Epros would lose the annoying red bowtie. I'm sorry, but that thing really bugs me!! whacks Epros over the head.  
  
Epros: Oww...I like my bowtie. It looks great on any guy!! XD  
  
Zebra: ;; Urrrrgrhh...  
  
Bird: Erm...gives forced smile  
  
Spoons: --;;; I told you I couldn't rhyme. But these are just the author's notes. I promise to make the rhymes in the story good!!  
  
Zebra: Let's...hope so.  
  
Spoon: Um...I think I've fried my muses. Anyway, the rating is PG-13 as of now, and may go up to R (heh) let's hope not.  
  
Epros: ?  
  
Spoons: Someone get him out of here. --  
  
Zebra: Gladly. kicks Epros with his back hooves, sending the phantom ghost flying out a window  
  
Spoons:   
  
Zebra: I thought you liked him. stares warily at Spoons  
  
Spoons: Well, yes. But I don't want him to rhyme anymore. ;;  
  
Bird: Good point. ;  
  
Zebra: Okay, on to the fic, already.  
  
Spoons: Enjoy!!  
  
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"blah" = speech  
  
'blah' = character thinking  
  
blah = word/phrase emphasis (italics)  
  
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I Am a Lonely Wanderer  
  
---------  
  
I am a lonely wanderer On my way towards death. I love the clarity of air Each time I take a breath.  
  
--------  
  
I love the friends who walk with me And then must go their way. I love the rose at dawn and dusk That celebrates each day.  
  
------  
  
I love to laugh at all the things That do not know they're fun, And weep at all the things that wound And shrivel up the sun.  
  
-------  
  
I never saw my father's face And will not have a child, But even so, I share with you My joy, wind-whipped and wild.  
  
------  
  
Poem by Nicholas Gordon  
  
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"Ari? Ari, can you hear me?"  
  
"He's been knocked out, Rosalyn. Of course he can't hear you." Kisling's voice was faint and hard to hear, almost like it was very far away. Ari blinked and tried to move, but found that he couldn't. Even though he had his eyes open, everything was pitch black, and his head felt like it was splitting open, probably from being hit by that Masterless Sword. "Oh, look! His eyes are open! Ari? Are you feeling alright?"  
  
Ari blinked his eyes a few times and, with much effort, raised his hands to his face to rub them. After a moment the dark forms of Rosalyn and Kisling appeared above him, their edges rather blurred.  
  
"What a relief. I thought for a moment that you'd never wake up." Rosalyn said with a sigh, sitting down on one of the room's small chairs. Ari groaned in pain and sat up slowly, aided by Kisling. His vision was still blotchy, but from what he could make out he was in a small room with three beds, each with their own little table and a complementary flower placed in a simple, white vase on top. The walls and floor were, oddly enough, made of what appeared to be a slightly rusty metal, black with little nuts and screws in intervals. There was a single, dingy window in the wall. It was too dirty to see out of, and had a large crack in the glass that looked more like it had been caused by age rather than vandalism, as was typically the case. Judging by the light, it was sometime late at night or very early in the morning.  
  
"Wh-"Ari began, coughing fitfully before he'd gotten a word out. Kisling frowned and handed him a glass of water in a metal cup. After drinking the foul water, Ari continued. "Where are the others?" He asked, his voice raspy.  
  
"They're in the other room. Big Bull is fine, but Linda, unfortunately, has suffered a broken arm. We're lucky to have escaped with just that." Kisling took a sip of the water, grimacing at the taste, and sat down on the bed next to Ari's. "You see, after you fainted the swords were relentless in trying to rip us all to shreds, it seemed. But after a few minutes they all just...stopped."  
  
"Stopped?" Ari looked across the room at Rosalyn for some sort of clarification, but she had her head down and her eyes closed. Kisling continued.  
  
"Yes, stopped. They all started looking around like they were lost and then just flew off. All in the same direction, too. It certainly was very odd that they showed up in the first place." He leaned forwards, his voices quiet. "The others may not know this, but those ghosts aren't native to anywhere near here. They must have traveled very far." He coughed quietly and took another reluctant sip from the cup. "Oh the air here is absolutely horrid! It'll shorten your life by a day or so every time you inhale!" He said, waving his hand around as if he were driving away the bad air. Rosalyn mumbled a quiet agreement and walked over to the remaining bed, lying down without so much as an upward glance. Her parasol was hanging from a hook on the door, exposing her shadow to be a bright shade of pink (this was a result of Stan having possessed her once a long time ago when they first met). She was still fully clad in her warrior's clothes. Ari noticed a lot of fresh bloodstains on the back of her shirt that looked like slash wounds. He took on a concerned expression and looked back to Kisling, who nodded solemnly.  
  
"She got those trying to keep the swords from harming you and Linda. She blocked them with her own body when they grabbed her rapier." He whispered so that Rosalyn wouldn't hear. "Chances are the two of you owe her your lives. I just hope those injuries heal. They're rather deep." He lay back with his head on the pillow and took out one of his books, laying it over his face so that it covered his eyes. "We'll head on to Rashelo tomorrow morning. I personally don't want to spend anther minute in this horrible town, but we don't have a choice. Well, goodnight Ari. Rosalyn."  
  
"Good night." Ari replied. Rosalyn was silent. Either she hadn't heard him or was already asleep. He lay motionless for a while, listening to the grinding sounds of countless gears and pegs turning in the walls and floor. He hadn't heard much about other towns. No one in his village had ever traveled very far beyond its borders, and it was so out-of-the-way that no travelers ever came to visit. But from what he had heard, this was most likely the town of Madril, the gear town. It was said to be an ancient place, built over a deep, rocky canyon, and made up entirely of gears and metal. People passed through it daily to get across the canyon, but it was not a very popular town. He was beginning to see why. Breathing the thick air felt like inhaling sawdust, and the water tasted like a month-old medicine that had gone bad long ago. He could only imagine what the food would be like. And yet, it was common knowledge that Madril was the most populated town for thousands of miles.  
  
He frowned and rolled over, his head throbbing. The pain was subsiding now, enough so that he could ignore it altogether. From the bed next to the door he could hear Rosalyn's slow, heavy breathing. A small snore came from Kisling's own bed next to the window. As usual, the scientist had wrapped himself in a cocoon of blankets, his thin, frizzy hair sticking out of the top. Ari smiled and closed his eyes, still exhausted from the day's events. Stan hadn't appeared yet, but that wasn't unusual. He would remain a shadow until he felt the need to come out, not before. Soon the rhythmic creaking and groaning of the gears lulled Ari to sleep, despite the dull pain in his head.  
  
A loud crash was what finally woke him, jerking him out of the nightmarish dream he'd been having about thousands of the Masterless Swords, endlessly circling around him and his friends. A girly shriek followed the crash, unmistakably Linda's voice. He coughed hoarsely and blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the fractured, morning light pouring through the window, sitting up slowly as he searched for the cause of the sound. Kisling's bed was empty, but Rosalyn seemed to be still asleep, her eyes closed and her arms wrapped around her dusty blanket. An unfamiliar voice was yelling something now, but the door was closed and it was too faint to hear. Ari stood and put his hand on the steel wall for support. His head had stopped hurting, but there was a sizeable lump where he'd been struck that stung when he touched it. Another crash, this time louder, issued from the hallway. He carefully made his way to the door and opened it cautiously to poke his head out. Big Bull was backing up slowly down the hall, smiling nervously at a gigantic, burly man, who was easily three times his height and who's face was contorted in a sort of homicidal glare, and Linda was standing off to the side by a closed door, her arm in a cloth sling. She was casting worried glances at the two of them, occasionally opening her mouth as though to say something, but changing her mind a moment later. The burly man clenched his hands into fists and made a primal growling noise that would have been quite comical in a different situation. Big Bull raised his hands up defensively as his back thumped against the wall at the end of the hallway.  
  
"Hey now...it was an accident. I swear. I didn't mean to knock it over! My tail just has a life of it own, sometimes, you know? Ha ha..." He said, cowering under the haughty glare directed at him. The man stopped a few feet from him and punched the wall, denting it slightly and causing Linda to squeak in fear. He made a grumbling noise and turned around slowly to walk the other way, giving Big Bull one last dirty look. After he was out of sight Big Bull sighed and slumped against the wall, wiping a hand across his brow. "Whoo! 'Thought I was done for!"  
  
"Oh Big Bull! He almost killed you!" Linda said, running up to place her free hand on his shoulder. "That brute was so mean! He was just angry because he was jealous! He was way uglier than you are!" She said passionately. Big Bull looked up at her and smiled slightly.  
  
"Thanks, I think. Hey, Ari! You're alive! We all thought you were done for!" He bellowed, running over to engulf him in a bone-crushing hug. Linda followed, but stayed at a slight distance until the bull had released him.  
  
"Oh, coach! You're alright! Linda's so happy!" She sang, prancing back and forth on both feet.  
  
"Where's Kisling?" Ari choked, his ribs slightly warped from the death-hug.  
  
"He went into town to find a map and some other things. Those swords ripped up the one we had, along with pretty much everything else." Big Bull said, his tail lashing back and forth. Ari looked down and noticed that Linda had her microphone cradled in her sling, the end poking out where her hand was. "I take it sister Rosalyn's still crashed out? She was pretty bloodied up after those ghosts left, so I don't blame her. Still, the sooner we leave this putrid town, the better!"  
  
Linda nodded her agreement, gently coughing into her hand. Big Bull said that he and Linda would take care of the inn fees, if Ari would go to wake Rosalyn. Ari agreed, walking back inside the room and shutting the door quietly.  
  
The room was far brighter than it had been last night, the increased light revealing thick clouds of dust floating about in the air. It was still impossible to see anything clearly out the window. Ari made his way over to the other side of the room and stood facing said window, squinting as he pressed his nose against the grimy glass. The smell was positively revolting, but the street was now somewhat visible. He could barely make out the dark forms of people walking past, and the box-like outline of another building immediately across from the inn. He stepped away from the window and rubbed his nose, trying to remove the blackened grease it had left. The people's voices were a dull roar that echoed slightly off of the metal walls and ceiling. He walked over to Rosalyn's bed and, careful not to touch any part of her back, shook her lightly. The bloodstains had dried overnight, leaving her white coat in need of a good washing. She grumbled and opened her sand-colored eyes, turning her head slightly to look up at Ari.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?" Ari asked, removing his hand from her shoulder. She cleared her throat and coughed, shaking her head at him. "Kisling's gone to find us a new map and some supplies before we start off for Rashelo. I've heard that it's quite a ways from here, but there are some shortcuts we could take if he can find a map that's recent enough. Big Bull and Linda are taking care of the inn fee. Can you walk?"  
  
'I think so." She sat up very slowly, wincing in pain, her pink shadow spilling across the old pillow. Ari handed her the small metal cup with a little of the water left in it. She took it and thanked him, downing it in one gulp with a slightly horrified expression at the flavor. She coughed again and handed it back to Ari. "Urrg. That was awful. I hope Kisling comes back soon." She said, her voice much clearer. "Are you feeling alright, Ari?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. It's only a bump on the head. And Linda's doing fine, too. She didn't seem to be in any pain when I talked to her."  
  
"That's good."  
  
"Um...Kisling told me what you did. About those Masterless Swords and all. And, I just wanted to say thank you. On behalf of both Linda and I." He said quietly as he looked down at the dark floor by the bed frame, knowing that Linda, with her airheaded demeanor, would never get around to thanking her, and probably didn't even know about what had happened. Rosalyn was silent for a moment, her expression unreadable.  
  
"I did what heroes are meant to do. We protect people who need it the most. You really didn't have to thank me, but you're welcome all the same." She said kindly, a small smile gracing her features. Ari smiled back at her, placing the cup on the table next to the bed. "Now there's something I haven't seen for a while. You always look so gloomy, Ari. I had begun to think that it was normal for you." She said, her smile growing wider. At this moment, the door opened and Linda walked into the room, waving her trusty microphone around in her hand.  
  
"We've paid the fee, coach! Oh, Rosalyn! You're finally awake. Linda was getting worried." She walked over to Rosalyn's bedside and began hopping back and forth on her feet energetically. "Kisling's back from the shop, so we're going to leave soon. Are you hurt very badly?" She asked, taking on a more pitying tone, which apparently annoyed Rosalyn.  
  
"No, I'll be fine. Tell that scatterbrained scientist to draw out the road to Rashelo before we get moving, this time." She said as she stood up, seeming to ignore the searing pain from the slash wounds. Ari reached out to help her but she shook her head. "We should get out of here as soon as possible."  
  
"But, Rosalyn." Ari began as Linda exited the room, humming one of her songs happily. "Your wounds...they haven't been treated yet..."  
  
"I'll be fine." She repeated, grimacing as she knelt down to pull her small, brown bag out from under the bed. "They're nothing too serious. Besides, getting out of this cursed town fast is better than lingering here to bandage up a few scratches." She undid the clasp and pulled out another white coat, spreading it across the bed.  
  
"They aren't scratches..." Ari said softly to her back, trailing off as she pulled her shirt and coat over her head and stuffed them into the bag. He turned around sheepishly and stared at the sunlit window instead. He was never much for arguing, and certainly wouldn't be able to convince her to listen to him, especially when she was determined like this.  
  
"Now there are several ways we could go" Rosalyn said, observing their new map as they threaded their way through thick crowds of people. Ari tried to look over her shoulder at it, but was slammed into by a large, shabby- looking man and knocked backwards into Big Bull.  
  
"Careful there, brother. We wouldn't want you to get trampled!" He said with a large grin. Ari mumbled a quick thank you and resumed walking behind Rosalyn. So far she was the only one, besides Big Bull, who hadn't been run into or knocked down, probably because she was carrying a large rapier at her belt.  
  
"We could go through the western pass, which is rocky and barren, or we could try the eastern pass, which is also rocky, but provides lots of trees and grass for cover from ghosts and the like. On the other hand, the Western pass is much faster." She continued, her brow furrowed in concentration. Avi was knocked backwards again and almost lost sight of her in the crowd. The smell out here was far worse than it had been in the inn, the air clouded with fumes and dust from the massive gears that were sticking out of the buildings and canyon wall at odd angles. From the lower level of Madril, the sky appeared to be a sickly gray. Madril itself consisted of three levels: the upper level, the lower level, and the sewer, which was actually deep inside the canyon walls rather than the ground. The buildings on the lower level were poorly constructed lumps of metal and turning gears that looked as though they could collapse at any moment, while the road was a wide metal walkway that snaked between the buildings. Immediately below the walkway were revolving gears and pipes, while on either side the darkness of the deep canyon was all that was visible. There were no safety rails on the walkway. Ari was nervously listening for the horrified scream of someone who'd stepped or had been knocked accidentally over the edge and down into the dark recesses of Madril canyon. Needless to say, he wasn't too fond of heights. "Of course, if we take the eastern pass, we can travel along the river, so we won't have to worry about our food supply. Since we're in no hurry to get to the next town, we should go along the river."  
  
"That's settled, then! The eastern pass it is!" Kisling belted out enthusiastically. Ari still found it odd that a scientist like him would have such a passion for traveling. After a few more minutes of walking they reached the lift to the second level where the northern exit was. It was incredibly crowded. A wall of bodies blocked them from getting anywhere near the lift, and it didn't seem like it would clear up very fast. A little girl with a green dress bumped into Linda's back and smiled innocently, running after her mother who had continued walking. Linda murmured unhappily and clutched her broken arm.  
  
"This crowd is much too thick. Linda's arm hurts from everyone bumping into it." She said, her voice barely audible above the roar of everyone's voices.  
  
"Yes, this crowd seems packed indeed. 'Tis enough to make one's eardrums bleed."  
  
Avi raised his brow and stared at the strange man next to him, who smiled back with a friendly nod. He had long, blonde hair down to his shoulders that curled at the bottom and was streaked with darker shades of yellow, and unusual, scarlet-colored eyes. But the most unnerving feature about him (at least, Ari thought it was a "him") was his excessive indigo eye shadow, giving him a very theatrical appearance. Suddenly Big Bull wrapped his arms around Avi's waist and dragged him through the crowd  
  
"C'mon, brother! Rosalyn's got us a spot on the lift!" He bellowed, knocking people over right and left. Ari saw the strange man wave farewell before he was blocked from sight by the hoards of people. Big Bull pulled him through the masses and over to the rickety old lift, stuffing him inside. He pushed his way in after him and nodded to Rosalyn, who pushed the little red button on the side. The lift gave a reluctant screech and hauled them high above the first level. Ari shifted uncomfortably, the dozens of bodies pressing against him. The smell of sweat and rust was almost unbearable, combined with the horrible grating of the lift and the thick clouds of dust and grit flying around in the air. A feeling of claustrophobia began to set in. Luckily the lift came to a grinding halt at the second floor, its doors slowly opening. The crowd of people pushed their way out, knocking Ari flat onto the ground. He was stepped on several times before Kisling hauled him up onto his feet.  
  
"Oh this is much better!" Linda chirped happily. The second level was about half the size of the first level, but had much fewer people around, and the buildings didn't look like heaps of metal and gears. Instead the structures were large, neatly built metal houses and factories. The air wasn't quite so bad, either, due to this level being at a much higher elevation than the first. Sunlight streamed down from the sky, bathing the buildings and giant gears in a pale, welcoming light.  
  
"Now there's something I've missed." Kisling said, spreading his arms to the blue-gray sky.  
  
"Slave!" Stan suddenly popped up behind Ari in a cloud of black, startling a few bystanders. They stared for a few moments before walking away quickly. "Why are we in this backwater town when we should be looking for the imposter Evil Kings!?"  
  
"Oh hello there, Stan. We were just about to leave here and begin our journey to Rashelo." Kisling said happily. Rosalyn had ignored the Evil King and was still mumbling to herself while she stared at the map. Linda ran up to Stan and twirled around once, balancing gracefully on one foot.  
  
"Once we get out of here, Linda will be so happy!" She sang, thoroughly enjoying herself. Big Bull blinked at her.  
  
"You sure seem happy now, sister Linda! I thought you hated this place!" He said with a grin. Linda nodded at him and launched into a song about leaving bad towns that she made up as she went along, which was actually surprisingly good. For a ditz, Ari thought to himself as Kisling tapped his foot to the beat, she sure has a lot talent.  
  
"Let's hurry up, then!" Stan growled, disappearing with a loud poof.  
  
"Alright, everyone! This way!" Rosalyn yelled over the noise. They all started walking again, no longer in danger of getting trampled or knocked down. After a few more minutes, the famous Madril town exit reared into view.  
  
To anyone not familiar with Madril, the town exit would appear to be nothing more than a pair of giant gears, about fifteen feet high and twenty feet across. They stood partially embedded in the canyon rock, blocking the walkway where it ended in front of them. Unlike the rest of the town, the Exit Gears were clean and well maintained. If they ever malfunctioned for any reason, Madril's inhabitants would be stranded in the canyon without any way of accessing the outside world. On the lower level, at the southern end of town, was another pair of Exit Gears identical to these. They were the only possible way in and out of Madril, unless one was to scale the massive canyon walls and then somehow make it down the other side and onto the walkway after crossing the huge gap between the wall and the town itself. Several attempts had previously been made, Kisling had once told him, to dig under the canyon's walls and up into the town so that an underground passage could be made, but the rock was simply too hard. It was for that same reason that a new exit could not be made if the Gears ever stopped working. There was no existing knowledge of how they had been put into the wall in the first place, either. Madril was a unique town, in that no one knew who had built it or how. It had simply always been there.  
  
They stopped in front of the Exit Gears. Rosalyn walked over to the side of the walkway and pressed a small, red button on a pole that stuck out of the wall at an odd angle. It flashed and made three shrill beeping noises, warning everyone to stand clear of the exit. The Gears began to rumble and turn slowly, bits of rock and dirt scattering over the walkway. They suddenly sped up and stopped with an earthshaking thump. Each of the Gears had a large chunk cut out of it, which had been hidden beneath the rock, that were now aligned with each other, creating a passage out of the town. Visible through the opening were thin trees and fields of grass that stretched out for miles. Everyone gave a collective sigh of happiness. Even Ari smiled and stepped out into the grass, taking a deep breath of the dust- free air, which now smelled of flowers rather than grease and rust.  
  
"Come on, everyone. Let's cover as much ground as we can before it gets dark." Rosalyn said, starting out on the path. Everyone else followed, chatting happily with each other or just breathing in the clean, perfumed air. Ari walked along behind the group. He looked out over the field and sighed, willing to take as much time as possible to reach the port town of Rashelo.  
  
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Spoons: Duuuude! I can actually do endings!! I never thought it physically possible, but I CAN DO ENDINGS!! XD  
  
Zebra: You...call that an ending? Oo  
  
Bird: I think it was a wonderful ending for the second chapter. They're all so happy and friendly.   
  
Spoons: Hahaha! But it won't stay that way! I have many plans for them...heh heh rubs hands together many plans indeed. :)  
  
Zebra: --; please review and tell us what you think. And, Spoons? Lean real close so I can tell you something important.  
  
Spoons: Yes? leans over  
  
Zebra: This...was...WAY TOO LONG!!!  
  
Spoons: falls over meep XP  
  
Bird: oh dear.  
  
Zebra: XD Please don't come back. nods happily  
  
Bird: --; 


End file.
